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Oklahoma NORML Friday released survey results from a Sooner Poll showing strong support for medical marijuana and majority support for marijuana decriminalization. The poll had support for medical marijuana at 71% and support for decriminalization at 57%. The poll did not ask about legalization.

The poll of registered voters was conducted between August 28 and September 9. The margin of error is +/- 4.9%.

If someone is going to be arrested for a marijuana offense, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) said they should be treated instead of jailed.

Under current Oklahoma law, possession of any amount can earn one up to a year in jail for a first offense and from two to 10 years for a second offense. Marijuana sales—of any amount—can earn a sentence of up to life in prison.

The state’s largest cities were the most in favor of fixing the state’s pot laws. In metro Oklahoma City and Tulsa, support for medical marijuana was higher than 75%, and support for decriminalization was at 67% in Tulsa and at 63% in Oklahoma City.

Even Oklahoma’s notoriously conservative Republicans are ready for change. Support for decriminalization came from 53% of Republicans interviewed, lower than the 60% of Democrats and 65% of independents, but still surprising.

“I do hope that the polling results will help legislators feel more comfortable supporting marijuana reform,” Oklahoma NORML leader Norma Sapp told the Oklahoma Observer. ”I always encourage people to contact the legislators. I think a state wide lobby day will be called when the need comes.”

Those opposing a marijuana sales tax ballot question are looking to replicate a successful campaign event in Denver by handing out free joints at 11 a.m. Monday on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall.

Organizers are billing the giveaway as both a campaign event and flood relief, giving joints to medical marijuana patients and “stressed-out recreational users” who may have lost their stashes in the flooding. Flood relief donations also will be accepted at the event.

“Boulder has been victimized by floods,” said Rob Corry, who helped organize the event and hopes to defeat Proposition AA, a statewide pot tax measure. “We want to bring some flood relief to folks.”

At Monday's Boulder event, the free joints will be given to anyone over 21 in attendance. Organizers are asking people not to light up, which is illegal in public. Smoking of any kind also is prohibited on the Pearl Street Mall. The event itself is legal and is allowed by the city, organizers said.

Police watched from a distance at a similar Denver event earlier this month, staying away even when a few people lit up their joints. Police officials later said that they didn't want to risk inciting a riot over a petty offense.

“I'm sure there won't be too much public consumption (at the Boulder event),” Corry said.

Proposition AA is a statewide ballot question that will ask voters in November to approve a 15 percent excise tax and an initial 10 percent sales tax that could be raised up to 15 percent. That would be in addition to the existing sales taxes.

London, United Kingdom: The administration of THC, the primary psychoactive component in cannabis, modulates emotional processing in healthy volunteers, according to placebo-controlled crossover trial data published online by the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Investigators from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 11 healthy male subjects. Following the administration of THC or placebo, researchers assessed subjects’ brain activity during their exposure to stimuli with a negative (‘fearful faces’) content or a positive content (‘happy faces’). They hypothesized that THC administration would reduce subjects’ negative bias in emotional processing and shift it towards a positive bias. A bias toward negative stimuli has been linked to diagnoses of certain mental illnesses such as depression.

They concluded: “These results indicate that THC administration reduces the negative bias in emotional processing. This adds human evidence to support the hypothesis that the endocannabinoid system is involved in modulation of emotional processing. Our findings also suggest a possible role for the endocannabinoid system in abnormal emotional processing, and may thus be relevant for psychiatric disorders such as major depression.”

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “The endocannabinoid system and emotional processing: A pharmacological fMRI study with Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol,” will appear in European Neurophyscopharmacology.

A California family says a rare type of medical marijuana has helped control their 7-year-old son’s severe epilepsy, Fox 40 reported.

Jayden David suffers from a debilitating form of epilepsy, which causes him to experience frequent seizures – some lasting up to 90 minutes. Until recently, Jayden took up to 20 types of medication every day in an attempt to control his condition.

However, when Jayden’s father, Jason David, discovered cannabidiol (CBD), a rare type of non-psychotic medical marijuana, he said it changed the young boy’s life.

David said the CBD, which he administers to his son in liquid form, has improved Jayden’s condition dramatically, reducing the number of seizures he suffers and allowing him to cut back on his medications.

LANSING – The marijuana legalization proposal that was approved by the city of Lansing on August 27 will remain on the November ballot despite a notice from the state Attorney General saying the amendment would violate state law.

The Lansing City Pulse is reporting that Attorney General Bill Shuette notified Gov. Rick Snyder on Sept. 10 that Lansing's the amendment "is not consistent" with Michigan's Home Rule Cities Act. The rule says that the state must review local ballot proposals.

"Regardless of whether the proposed amendment is approved by the voters, marijuana will remain a controlled substance under state and federal law," Matthew Schneider, the Attorney General's chief legal counsel, wrote. "City law enforcement will retain the authority to enforce criminal laws, without regard to any provision in the charter.

The letter adds: "No city charter provision 'shall conflict with or contravene the provisions of any general law of the state.'" The letter also said that the ballot proposal also "does not inform the voters that the proposed amendment conflicts with state law" and that it does "not inform the voters that state law will control regardless of whether the proposed amendment is adopted."

City Clerk Chris Swope said that Snyder responded on Monday and said that he agreed with the attorney general's decision.

"Because of the inconsistency with state law identified in the attached letter from the Attorney General's Office, I do not approve the proposed revised charter amendment," Snyder said in the letter. Swope said that City Attorney Janene McIntyre has reviewed the matter and told him that the proposal will stay on the ballot.

A judge on Friday ruled against a Lansing couple who claimed their child was improperly removed from their care in a case involving medical marijuana.

Ingham County Probate Judge Richard Garcia said a referee had probable cause to place 6-month-old Brielle “Bree” Green in the care of the state Department of Human Services.

But Garcia said parents Gordon and Maria Green can have unlimited visitation with the child, who has been placed with her maternal grandmother.

Acting on a petition by state caseworkers, a family court referee on Sept. 13 placed the child in the care of DHS pending a trial next month.

The Greens and other medical marijuana advocates said the state’s actions violated protections in the state’s medical marijuana law. Maria Green is a registered medical marijuana caregiver and was legally growing the drug in her home, they said.

Caseworkers said there were allegations marijuana was being used in the presence of children. The Greens deny those assertions.

A jury trial is set for Oct. 7 on whether the state should have jurisdiction over the child.